Status Anxiety

In his delightful new book, the famed cultural critic Alain de Botton turns his purview from society’s discontents to the human obsession with status. To prove his thesis that our desire for status is actually a longing for love, de Botton ranges through Western history, literature and thought, from St. Augustine and Machiavelli to Andrew Carnegie and Anthony Robbins. Whether it’s exploring class consciousness in Christianity or consumer capitalism’s convulsions, this wise and helpful book is as appealing as it is informative. And when it examines the virtues of informed misanthropy, art appreciation or walking a lobster on a leash, it just might make you happier – if only you buy a copy!